2019 MUSIC PREVIEW: Ozzy! Priest! Skynyrd! Ariana!
The Big Three – can we call them the Big Three? Yes! – THE BIG THREE shall rock Edmonton this summer. Name other metal legends so widely known by only one name: Ozzy, Priest, Maiden – this trifecta alone will make 2019 a huge year for classic heavy metal in Edmonton. Ozzy Osbourne, age 70, […]
The Illusionists razzle dazzle Edmonton
The art of illusion is probably as old as civilization itself. Once the province of wizards and enchanters, it became a popular entertainment in the hands of Thurston and Houdini in the early years of the 20th Century – known now as “The Golden Age of Magic.” As our culture and society advances, seeing something […]
PLAYBOT: Weird story behind The Nutcracker
Everybody knows The Nutcracker – the 100-plus-year-old ballet with music by the great Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But what is this thing really about, anyway? In a nutshell – do you see what I did there? – someone seems to have spiked the kids’ eggnog on Christmas Eve. Either that or the story’s creator Ernst Theodor […]
Carole King musical a thrilling spectacle of sheer talent
Beautiful is a jukebox musical unlike any you have ever seen – and from Buddy to Mamma Mia you’ve probably seen a lot of them. The show opened in San Francisco in 2013 and proved to be such an immediate success that it was transferred, almost whole, to Broadway a year later. The much-praised Carole […]
PLAYBOT: High expectations for Carole King musical
How a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn became one of the greatest songwriters of all time is the rich subject of a new musical that opens in Edmonton tonight. From a Broadway hit in 2014 to the Jubilee Auditorium until Nov. 11, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical follows the inspiring story of its titular subject […]
Mother Mother to ‘Dance and Cry’ in Edmonton
The band so nice they named it twice is coming back to Edmonton yet again – and we couldn’t be happier. Mother Mother has included the Jubilee Auditorium on its most ambitious tour so far – 40 dates across North America on the “Dance and Cry” tour, named for the band’s seventh studio album, out […]
Young the Giant brings Mirror Master to Edmonton
It’s a real trick to score radio hits and tour large halls in major cities and still be called “indie.” Enter Young the Giant, which will play the Jubilee Auditorium on Friday, March 1, 2019. The Southern California quintet is touring behind their fourth studio album, Mirror Master. Tickets start at $27.50 and go on […]
PLAYBOT: Love means never having to say you’re sorry
Opera buffs claim La Traviata was an inspiration for several Hollywood movies – highbrow stuff like Moulin Rouge or Pretty Woman. But there is another … Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera bears a striking similarity to Love Story, the 1970 romantic drama starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. Does anyone remember this? It was the highest […]
The Book of Mormon a surprise – not a spoof
Ding! Dong! There they are at the door bell again – the two earnest young men in dark suits, white shirts and ties, sure of their mission, clutching their theological tomes and looking for converts. Elder Price and Elder Cunningham are back ringing promoting THE WORD as revealed to that “All-American prophet,” Joseph Smith. The […]
PLAYBOT: Once upon a romance
He’s a street musician who’s starting to have doubts about his chosen career path. She’s a beautiful young passer-by who becomes his muse. What could possibly go wrong? Why, nothing, of course – aside from life and, possibly, love. In this multiple-Tony winning musical at the Citadel Theatre Sept. 22-Oct. 14, Julien Arnold and Ruth […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Fee Fie Foo Fum
Next Tuesday night the legendary Foo Fighters are in town – this time to promote their latest full-length Concrete and Gold, which was released last September. Like most of their albums, it reached No. 1 on charts around the world, from the United States and Canada to Norway and Ireland. Though probably a little more […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Blues, brothers and sisters!
Will it be possible to eat a green onion cake at the Edmonton Blues Festival while simultaneously listening to Green Onions performed by Booker T himself? Might we offer the visiting organsmith a sample of Edmonton’s favourite festival food? The answer is, sadly, no: No one’s selling green onion cakes down in Hawrelak Park this […]
